Master composter Helen Gazeley fields some more seasonal questions.

Can I add leaves to the compost pile?

You can add leaves to your compost heap, but should only do so sparingly because they can take a long time to rot down (sycamore leaves, for example, take forever) and it’s a much better idea to put them in their own separate pile where they can get on with it at their own pace.

Stop them from blowing around by corralling them with chicken wire and ensure that they are damp (water if necessary). Alternatively you can put them into black sacks – punch holes in the plastic to allow air to circulate. If you like, to help speed things up, run the mower over the leaves to chop them up and also mix grass clippings into the heap.

If you have trees suffering from disease or, for example, chestnuts infested with the leaf miner that causes the leaves to drop early, you should burn the leaves, and not compost them.

Leaves take around two years to rot down well, but by that time you will have a fine, crumbly mix that is ideal to add to seed and potting compost.

Will my large woody prunings rot down?

Everything rots down eventually, but presumably you’d like this to happen before Doomsday. If you add small branches to your pile, you will be picking them out again when you dig out the compost in a few months’ time.

To make them rot down quickly, you need to cut them into small pieces and crush them in order to provide as much surface area as possible for the bugs, bacteria and moulds to work on. The best way to do this is with a chipper.

The resulting chippings count as “brown” (or carbonaceous) material in the heap and therefore need to be balanced with “green” (nitrogenous) waste (such as sappy prunings or kitchen peelings).

Mix the chippings with up to twice their volume of grass clippings and the heap will heat up like a furnace and produce gorgeous, fine compost in a short time.

Should a bin have solid sides or slats to allow air in?

A knotty question, which causes much discussion in composting circles. Air and moisture are both vital to the composting process. Some say that gaps are necessary to allow oxygen to penetrate the depths of the heap. Others say that gaps cause the sides to dry out more quickly, which is true.

The plastic “dalek” bins that you buy don’t offer a choice and are solid-sided, though some of the newer ones are designed with internal chimneys to allow oxygen into the centre. If you make wooden bins, separating the slats means that you use less wood.

I have both wooden slatted and the plastic compost bins and, to be honest, haven’t noticed much difference. Both need turning, as this is the best way to keep the composting process going. Occasionally, material from the heap with slatted sides needs additional watering, but the bin itself is much more attractive.

If you add kitchen waste to your heap, I’d suggest solid sides to deter rats. Otherwise, choose whichever appeals.

Can I add wood ash?

Yes. Although, to get the full benefit of the potash contained in it, it’s best to put it to one side, keep it dry and spread it around your plants as necessary.

What is the best position for a compost bin?

As we head into autumn, the position of your compost bins is worth considering. Often they’re in the darkest, dankest corner, hidden away.

Understandable as this is, it tends to mean that they get cold and miserable in winter, when composting slows down as the temperature drops. Siting your heaps somewhere where they can gain extra heat from the wintry sun will help keep them working. Do you have a composting problem? Send your questions to helengazeley@aol.com.